NAMM Honors the Year's Best Ads Featuring Music Making

The creative uses of musical instruments and music-making products in television commercials will be honored at the 2013 NAMM Show as the industry presents the NAMM Excellence Award for Music in Advertising. Finalists will be announced January 27 at the 2013 NAMM Show held January 24-27 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

The nominated commercial spots were chosen from a selection of dozens of mainstream ad campaigns run in 2012 that featured music making. The seven finalists creatively incorporate or feature musical instruments and music-making. The finalists’ ads feature everything from custom guitars and a car rigged to play musical notes to a human-body-powered one-man band.

The Nominees for the NAMM Excellence Award for Music in Advertising are:

Old Spice – “Muscle Music” (Wieden & Kennedy)
UnitedHealthcare / AARP – “Playing For Keeps” (A. Eicoff & Company)
Target – “Music Teacher” (Wieden & Kennedy)
Chase Freedom – “Footloose” (mcgarrybowen)
Volkswagen Jetta – “Fast v Fast” (Deutsch LA)
Coca-Cola – “Guitar Hero” (Giacomo Cagnetti and Rovero Impiglia)
Chevy Sonic – “Let’s Do This/Needing-Getting/OK Go” (Goodby Silverstein & Partners)

Preview the nominated advertisements here: http://youtu.be/KDTWBIUMlbw

The awards celebrate a burgeoning trend in television advertising. Increasingly, music and musical instruments are playing a key role in the most memorable television ads. “Companies seem to use musical instruments in their ads because music-making elicits a positive feeling with consumers,” said Joe Lamond, president and CEO of NAMM. “It is gratifying to see people playing music to communicate these messages, and a clear reminder of music’s power to move us."

The NAMM Excellence Award for Music in Advertising is part of NAMM’s ongoing mission to promote the benefits and pleasures of making music. The first-, second-, and third-place trophies are actual musical instruments - ukuleles - that have been customized with the NAMM logo and eye-catching artwork by California-artist Tyler Warren. 

The NAMM Show gathers 90,000 members of the music product industry from around the world to preview new product debuts from thousands of brands across every category. Registration is now open for qualified members of the music instrument, product and pro-light and sound industries. Exhibit space is still available for the 2013 event. Learn more about the 2013 NAMM Show at https://ww1.namm.org/thenammshow/2013.